my vice is pizza and potao chips, i rarely eat them but when do i buy potato chips i usually eat the whole bag within tge day. i dont buy pizza, too greasy and costly, i make it maybe 4 times a year but again i eat it all

I will start by saying my food/drink vices change periodically. For awhile I was on a Sweet Tea kick. Steak subs were a several day a week thing for awhile. Right now I seem to be eating everything in sight so I really can't single out anything food wise for this one.

Beverage consumption is a different story, and Diet Pop (Soda) is the vice. I typically drink two Big Gulps a day just while at work. That alone is about $400/year. What I drink outside of work varies daily, but I guestimate $300 to $400/year for that as well.

David Bach is rarely listed among recommended authors on the personal finance message boards I have been on. But his discussion about the "latte factor" really helped me get my spending under control many years ago.

Back then it was dining out for lunch every day at work that was killing my wallet.

I think my excess spending on pop/soda is an after effect of paying off our mortgage and not immediately (and automatically) reallocating those funds previously assigned to our mortgage.

Hoping this thread has the same impact Bach's book had on me years ago.

I really can't think of anything that I buy regularly on a daily or weekly basis. Definitely nothing on a daily basis. When I go grocery shopping on Thursday, I'll sometimes pick up some treat in the bulk food aisle, usually either dark chocolate nonpareils or Jelly Belly jelly beans. So that might be $5-10 and what I buy will last about 3 weeks. That's about the only thing that comes to mind. And I don't always get something. So maybe $30/year.

__________________
Steve

* Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
* Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
* There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.

Since I don't have any other vices, I really don't give a flip about the soda. But I suppose that also goes with keeping it well within a reasonable level of moderation. I doubt I spend more than $10/month on the above. (No one else in my house will drink any of the above).

Of course, I don't buy the cheapest soda that I can find. I keep it to the 8 oz cans because those are reasonable servings. I've kind of gone round and round over the years, but that seems to work best for me. (Sometimes I buy 2 liters because they are cheaper, or sometimes I have only had soda when eating out. Every once in a while I stop buying the small cans because everyone picks on me how expensive those are. But I think I am at a point where I just don't give a flip because that does seem to work best for me).

Do you smoke or not? You said you don't but listed cigars first on your list.
It's hard to rank things but I'd say smoking is the worst, heavy alcohol use is probably 2nd (and by heavy I mean more than 1-2 drinks/day), and the diet indiscretions would be 3rd - that's where the high sugar, high fat issues come in.

Personally, I'm not convinced that diet soda is all that bad unless you're drinking a lot of it. I think one diet drink a day is okay. Drinking it all day long like it's water is not okay.

I don't normally pay for beverages outside of the home but I am a coffee drinker. We brew at home, but when DH is traveling I use the Starbucks Via packages to make myself a cup for convenience/laziness. I've not calculated the cost of my coffee habit, but I'd estimate that for the Via packages I spend right around $100 per year and consider it money well spent.

Do you smoke or not? You said you don't but listed cigars first on your list.
It's hard to rank things but I'd say smoking is the worst, heavy alcohol use is probably 2nd (and by heavy I mean more than 1-2 drinks/day), and the diet indiscretions would be 3rd - that's where the high sugar, high fat issues come in.

Personally, I'm not convinced that diet soda is all that bad unless you're drinking a lot of it. I think one diet drink a day is okay. Drinking it all day long like it's water is not okay.

I may be dreaming this but it seemed like my dr said diet was just as bad because of the heavy sodium content instead of sugar, which affects your blood pressure ?

I may be dreaming this but it seemed like my dr said diet was just as bad because of the heavy sodium content instead of sugar, which affects your blood pressure ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Nope. A 12-oz can of Diet Coke has only 40mg of sodium. That's practically nothing.

I was actually just reading about this last week, the problem with diet sodas is really just that the artificial sweeteners trigger the release of insulin, which leads to low blood sugars and stronger hunger cravings. Unless you have the willpower enough to overcome hunger cravings, the artificial sweeteners can lead you to eating more calories than the soda would have given you. I'm not a scientist, so this is only a guess, but that effect might be reduced somewhat by drinking diet sodas with other food. That way, the insulin release would be less impactful, as your body will already have food to work on to return your levels to normal... But again, just a non-scientific theory.

I any case, if I have an eating/drinking vice, it's ice cream. I love good ice cream (which is also more expensive than your basic store brand vanilla), so it doesn't last long when it's in the house. So to mitigate it, I basically just don't buy it. My willpower is good in the grocery store (thank you shopping list), but awful at home. Lol

Soda lots. DH drinks 1-2 beers a day, and sometimes a nightcap of crown royal. I indulge in precut salads and ice cream/desserts for kids sometimes. DH also loves coffee so single serve at home or when we're out starbucks. $100/month? Eating out?

Alcohol. I would guess about $2,000 a year, easily. Maybe even closer to $3,000. But our house sitter likes to be at least partially paid in beer, and both sides of the family expect us to bring the drinks for holidays and what-not. I can spend $250 just for Christmas dinner, and forget New Years. Of course, having a taste for bubbly and single malt scotch doesn't help, either.